Monaco Top 5

Number 1: Este Bestie on the Podium

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was having the time of his life in Monaco. He started the race third and he was able to cross the finish line in third as well.

After getting out of the car, the smile never left his face. He celebrated with his team and the fans, and he even used the nickname fans on social media have given him saying “Este-Bestie’s on the podium, baby!”

Ocon did almost fall during his excitement on the podium but thankfully he only knocked over his champagne bottle.

It has been a while since we’ve seen the Frenchman on the podium and it seems that he forgot that two national anthems are played during a podium ceremony. He put his hat back on his head after the first and awkwardly had to take it back off for the second.

It's fun having a driver that’s not usually on the podium present. No matter which step they’re on, they enjoy the moment.

Number 2: The Monaco Curse

Charles Leclerc has been plagued by the Monaco curse his entire career in F1 and F2. Despite being the driver’s home track, luck has not been on his side during race weekends.

2023 has not turned out to be the year he beats the curse.

Qualifying went well for the Ferrari driver. The entire session was filled with stellar performances and Leclerc scored himself a chance to start third. However, the driver’s podium chances quickly diminished when he was served a three-place grid penalty.

The penalty was for impeding McLaren’s Lando Norris during Qualifying. While it was stated there wasn’t much the Ferrari driver could do to move out of the way, his team still failed to inform him of the McLaren approaching behind him. Norris was forced to abandon his last fast lap of the session making it impossible to improve his grid position.

The curse has also claimed another victim this year, Arthur Leclerc. The younger Leclerc is taking part in his first F2 season and by association, his first home race.

The young driver crashed out in practice, a mistake in qualifying forced him to start from the back of the grid, he crossed the line 15th in the Sprint race, and then Leclerc was forced to retire from Sunday’s Feature race.

Number 3: Monaco Becomes a Slip-and-Slide

Many people believe that Monaco should be scratched from the calendar because it's “boring.” Races like this week invalidate that statement. All it takes is a little sprinkle of rain and Monaco becomes a slip-and-slide.

Teams had to throw their original tire strategies out the window because it started raining during the last 30 laps. Cars started sliding around the track left and right. The rain led to two retirements. George Russell was given a penalty after he slid off the track and then did not safely rejoin the track. It was just all-around chaos.

Clips of cars sliding around the track will take over social media all week because it was that funny. My favorite moment was Lance Stroll looking like a pinball sliding between the barriers.

Number 4: Strategy Circus

The most chaotic moment caused by the rain was the strategy circus.

Many of the teams felt that the rain was going to go around the track but as we know that did not happen. Teams were forced to bring their drivers in to put intermediate tires on the cars. Everyone seemed to take different approaches.

McLaren and Ferrari double-stacked their pit stops and it didn’t really go well for either. McLaren’s second stop was slow and Ferrari pitted the cars too close together. One driver sat waiting while the other had his tires changed.

Aston Martin put new slick tires on Fernando Alonso’s car only to bring him in a few laps later for intermediates. The first pit stop took place early enough that they might have been able to fight for the win had they made a better call.

Haas left Kevin Magnussen out on slick tires despite the entire field being on wet weather tires. This ultimately forced him to retire after a number of collisions with trackside barriers.

This shows how tire strategy can affect a race outcome. It also shows the importance of a team being able to think on their feet.

Number 5: Hi Tom!

Tom Holland made an appearance on the grid this weekend and as a Spider-Man fan, I have to talk about it.

Based on the pictures, it seems like he was a Red Bull Racing guest. When asked who he was supporting during the race, the actor answered “Lewis, obviously!”

After the race, social media was also flooded with a number of photos showing Tom and Lando Norris interacting before the start of the race.

One of my favorite moments was a photo of Tom and Esteban Ocon. Ocon is known to be a huge Spider-Man fan so not only did he make it on the podium but he got to meet his favorite superhero.

Tom was not just any guest at the Monaco Grand Prix though, he waved the checkered flag. He waved the flag with so much enthusiasm that he hit himself in the face with it!

With Monaco behind them, F1 heads to Barcelona, Spain this weekend. F2 and F3 will also be racing making it another exciting weekend for race fans!